OK time for another review just before the end of the month and this one will be on the reboot of the Ratchet and Clank series on the latest generation video console that is the PS4. For people that don't know what Ratchet and Clank is, its a platform shooter game series that follows the adventures of a feline creature called Ratchet and his small droid sidekick, Clank.
I am still to complete at the time of writing but I thought I would post up about it regardless. So as a reboot to a very successful and enjoyable series, does this new version hold it well??? Let's find out!
And as usual I will say a bit about the story but I won't give too much away but I will for the sake of it issue the usual warning:
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
STORY
Right so basically the game is a remake (or re-imagining if you like) of the original which starts with Captain Qwark, the deluded yet cowardly superhero re-telling the events of how Ratchet and Clank met and their ensuing adventures. And it starts with the then un-named Clank (voiced by David Kaye) who is in fact a defect warbot escaping from a factory where he was created, having learned that the leader of the Blarg race, Chairman Drek, intends to launch an intergalactic war. Clank's escape pod however is shot down and crash lands on the planet Veldin where a Lombax named Ratchet (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) soon finds the pod and rescues Clank before it explodes.
Clank then explains that he must warn the Galactic rangers on the planet Kerwan of the attack and Ratchet agrees to help Clank and gives him the name "Clank" since he the droid had no given name. And its basically from here the two titular characters start off their adventures together that see them take on a vital role in trying to stop the villainous Drek from carrying out his evil plans once and for all.....
THOUGHTS
As a re-imagining of the original game, Ratchet and Clank is a highly enjoyable reboot of the series on the PS4 and it tells the story of the first game very well and again it nicely re-introduces the game's engaging main characters and does a great job at continuing to put the fun into the series.
The game itself was originally to be released last year but given that they are making an animated film they decided to put back its released date to April this year and in fact the release date of the film is on 29 April (i.e. the day after this review!). So given the film's tie-in with the game let's hope that the film will be as successful as the game should be which has already received a number of positive reviews, which will include this one from me!
GAMEPLAY
As for the gameplay well its very much the same as before with the emphasis on platform action and the player mainly plays as Ratchet who's movement are basically running, jumping, climbing, shimmying and strafing to avoid enemy fire. Ratchet being the primary character has access to a large array of weapons, which he can acquire throughout the game as he picks up the bolts from the robotic enemies he defeats, they are used as credit to pay for weapons. Ratchet also can pick up various upgrades through the game too that include a substance called raritanium, which can be used to upgrade Ratchet's weapons.
There are also points in the game where you can play as Clank, which happens when there are areas in the game where Ratchett can't access and Clank also has similar moves but he has no access to weapons and uses his metallic fists for self defence. Clank however has the ability to reprogram other gadget bots as he encounters them during the game so he can program them to either transform into a bridge, power up devices or becoming a springboard for Clank to move over.
As for the game's weapons there are plenty to choose from as the game carries on Ratchett can purchase more as he picks up bolts and the weapons themselves can be alot of fun especially with the hilarious inclusion of the Groovitron, a gun that projects a crystal ball and hypnotises its victims into dancing to distract them! And among the usual weapons in the game that include handguns such as the combustor, the warmonger (a missile launcher), a pyrocroptor which is basically a large flame thrower as well as Mr Zukon, a dangerous small droid with an appetite for destruction. And one of the newest inclusions on the weapons front is the Pixelizer, which turns enemies into an 8 bit video game appearance but essentially disintegrates their matter down into little pixels!
There are also sections in the game where Ratchet can use his swingshot device to help him traverse over big gaps to reach platforms, which is a device that featured in the original game. And in addition to this Ratchet in certain points of the game can use glide boots to ride large grind rail courses, which can cause much room for caution as Ratchet may crash into obstacles as he rides the rail.
GRAPHICS, VOICE ACTING AND MUSIC
Getting onto the game's graphics, well put simply they look amazing as the game really has been given an impressive visual upgrade from the original PS2 game that came out 14 years ago. The game also even has a cinematic look to it during its gameplay aswell as the cutscenes, which may possibly to do with the tie-in of the spin-off film. The character models are all nicely drawn out and are given a good upgrade too from their originals and it has to be said R&C is one of the few games where it actually manages to make some of its vicious enemies actually appear to be cute, which is no easy task!
As for the voice acting in the game, its excellent and the cast are all on good form, particularly James Arnold Taylor and David Kaye who voice the two leads of Ratchet and Clank respectively and they give their characters a nice rapport together and Jim Ward also does great as the egotistical yet cowardly Captain Qwark. The other voice acting talent includes names such as Paul Giamatti as the villainous Chairman Drek, although I think his voice is only used in archived footage in the game and not for the actual gameplay as Eric Bauza also voiced Drek. Rosario Dawson also appears in the game as one of the space rangers, Elaris and she also appears in the film but the film features other big names too such as Sylvester Stallone and John Gooman. Anyway the actors all put in fine efforts and they have fun with the amusing dialogue they are given to work with.
And to finally move onto the game's score by Mike Raznick, which is actually pretty good and well suited to the comedic and light tone of the game, although it does have a heavier emphasis on orchestral sounds than the previous games did but again this will no doubt be to do with the film tie-in. Although one I would also say about the score is that it goes on forever and never seems to stop as its always there in the background and it makes you wonder just how much music did this guy write for it??!! Anyway despite that its a pretty decent score overall.
FLAWS
As for the flaws.... yeah R&C has some minor ones but nothing too drastic so let's take a quick look at them...
Well for me the problem with the game is to do with its control system in some respects it could be more responsive and this is particularly a problem in the moments when Ratchet rides the grind rails as I found myself trying to time and press a button to side jump to avoid an obstacle only I couldn't do it and ended up killing R instead. Again its pretty minor as you can if you time it well enough avoid this from happening but its still a bit tricky nevertheless.
Another issue is to do with the game's flying sections which were for me the only boring segments in the game but I never really like aerial fights in games and this one is no exception as the fights are a bit dull. And this isn't helped either by the fact that the controls for Ratchet's ship in flight are also a bit frustrating as I find the controls a bit too sensitive and quite often I would end up crashing the ship into buildings and blowing it up!
The game also features some tedious puzzles for Ratchet to solve where he needs to use a special device called a trespasser to hack into access panels to open doors and they can start off simply enough but they soon become tedious pretty quickly. Thankfully you have the option to perform an autohack but the game warns the player that they will not be able to pick up any bonuses related to trespasser puzzles if you do autohack it but to be honest so what?! It just seems that adding puzzles into these games is an obligatory thing.
You could also argue that the story itself isn't overly gripping or that well developed but the voice acting helps make it fun regardless of any of its shortcomings. And further to that it makes you think it would have been nicer to have even seen a brand new Ratchet and Clank game by itself instead of just a re-imagining which could have allowed for a newer story rather than just re-tread.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So in summing up, Ratchet and Clank is a very enjoyable game and sees the franchise make a welcome return to the Playstation itself. The game is alot of fun throughout and is packed with plenty of action, has engaging characters and features no shortage of weapons and upgrades. Whether or not the film with live up to the game is another matter as video game film remakes rarely work well so there is a chance that R&C could be the same but I guess we will have to and wait see.
But you can be rest assured this game will not suffer the same possible fate as its great and if you have a PS4 and would like to relive the nostalgic days of the series from the PS2 its well worth checking out.
So that's it from me for now and I will be back in May as I won't have much time to do another review before the end of the month but I will be baaacck soon enough.
Till the bye fer now!
